Mr Leery and the rights of the people.

Last night I had a long discussion with someone at work that was prompted by him suggesting (based on a newspaper article) that The Human Rights Act protects the people the government want deported. The Muslim Preachers who say "we should kill them all" and other acts of inciting hate and terrorism etc. And because it does that it should be scrapped, as it is putting us (the people of the UK) in danger.

I didn't read the article, cause I didn't need to. At the time I didn't know the scope of the Human Rights Act, but even then I knew that it must protect something other than terrorists. And I argued that because of that it should be kept, regardless of if it can be used for evil.

And - as it turns out - I was right.


(from this site - http://www.humanrights.gov.uk/studyguide/index.htm)

3.14 Article 2 also provides that no-one can be deprived of their life intentionally by the state unless they have committed a crime for which the death penalty is provided. The UK has also ratified Protocol 6, which abolishes the death penalty and the existing legal situation is that courts in the UK cannot order death as a sentence for a crime.

3.17 The Government must also take positive steps to protect life in all kinds of situations. The following are examples of areas where questions about how far this obligation should extend might be raised:

* Hospitals – Hospitals are under a duty to take positive steps to safeguard a patient’s right to life. Justifying the refusal of life-saving treatment to a patient raises this issue, as well as possible issues under Article 3 (the right to be protected from inhuman and degrading treatment).15
* Expulsion from the UK – It will not be acceptable to extradite, expel or deport someone to a country where there is a real possibility that their life is at risk.

3.18 If someone is killed by a state agent, such as a member of the police or the army, the death should be properly inquired into. This investigation must be prompt and effective; there should be a certain amount of public scrutiny of it; and the family of the deceased should be suitably involved.

3.21 You have the absolute right not to be tortured or subjected to treatment or punishment that is inhuman or degrading. The treatment prohibited by Article 3 is of the worst kind and Article 3 is one of your most fundamental rights. Even in times of war or other public emergency, you have the right not to be treated in these ways.

Does it matter who has actually performed the torture or ill-treatment?

3.27 Yes. A public authority can be responsible for the acts of people who work for them even if they do not know or approve of what those people are doing. For example, in one case the Turkish authorities were held responsible for rapes committed by their soldiers in Cyprus as they had not taken satisfactory steps to prevent the attacks and did not discipline the soldiers sufficiently afterwards. The state is under a positive obligation to prevent breaches of Article 3 by one private individual against another, particularly against children and other vulnerable persons, a principle that was recently reiterated in the Z v UK case in Strasbourg. Covering up or failing to investigate a death or disappearance or an allegation of ill-treatment may itself violate Article 3 rights of the immediate victim’s family.

3.31 Article 4 protects you from being held in “slavery” or “servitude”. These are very old-fashioned concepts, dating back to Roman times. Being a slave means that someone actually owns you just like a piece of property. Being in servitude is similar, in that you may have to live on the other person’s property, and may be unable to leave, but is different in that the other person does not officially own you. The UK outlawed all forms of slavery in 1833.

3.46 You have the right to a fair trial. This is a key feature of a democratic society, and includes:

* the right to a fair hearing
* the right to a public hearing
* the right to a hearing before an independent and impartial tribunal
* the right to a hearing within a reasonable time.

Additional rights in a criminal trial

3.64 These include:

* the right, as a general principle, to be in court during your trial. If you are in custody it is the responsibility of the prison authorities to ensure you are at court. You can waive your right to attend court, but you must do so freely and clearly. However, if you deliberately choose to be absent from court when your trial is heard, the court may continue with the case and will not necessarily have breached your Article 6 rights in doing so. (This was decided in the Jones case.)
* the right not to give evidence that may incriminate you, often called the “right to silence”. However, if you exercise the right to silence, the court may be allowed to draw conclusions about why you have remained silent.31 So, there is no absolute right to avoid self-incrimination
* the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, which means that it is usually for the prosecution to prove you are guilty of the offence
* the right to be informed promptly of the details of the accusation against you in a language you understand
* the right to adequate time and facilities to prepare your defence, including the provision of legal aid where justice requires this, and the right to communicate with a lawyer in good time for the trial
* the right to question prosecution witnesses and to call and examine your own witnesses under the same conditions
* the right to defend yourself or the right to effective legal assistance
* the right to a free interpreter where you cannot understand the language used.

Article 7: No punishment without law

3.66 You normally have the right not to be found guilty of a criminal offence arising out of an action that, at the time that you did it, was not criminal. You are also protected against any increase in the possible sentence for an offence that has taken place as a result of the law changing since the date of your action.

What does private life cover?

3.68 The concept of “private life” is broad. In general, your right to a private life means that you have the right to live your own life with such personal privacy as is reasonable in a democratic society, taking into account the rights and freedoms of others. Any interference with your body or the way you live your life needs to be justified. Your Article 8 rights include matters of self-determination that may include, for example:

* freedom to choose your sexual identity
* freedom to choose how you look and dress
* freedom from intrusion by the media.

3.69 Your right to private life can also include the right to have information about you, such as official records, photographs, letters, diaries and medical information, kept private and confidential. Unless there is a very good reason, public bodies should not collect or use information like this.35

3.70 Article 8 places limits on the extent to which a public authority can do things which invade your privacy about your body without your permission. This can include activities such as taking blood samples and performing body searches.36

3.71 In some circumstances, the state must take positive steps to prevent intrusions into your privacy by other people. For example, the state may be required to take action to protect individuals from serious pollution where it is seriously affecting their lives.

3.72 Your right to respect for family life includes the right to have family relationships recognised by the law. It also includes the right for a family to live together and enjoy each other’s company. Unmarried mothers are always covered by “family”; foster families may be.

3.79 You have the absolute right to hold the thoughts, positions of conscience or religion you choose. The state can never interfere with your holding of these views, whatever the circumstances of your case.

Freedom of Expression

3.85 “Expression” can cover holding views or opinions, speaking out aloud, publishing articles or books or leaflets, television or radio broadcasting, producing works of art, communication through the Internet, some forms of commercial information and many other activities. It can also cover the right to receive information from others, so you possess expression rights as a speaker and as a member of an audience. You can express yourself in ways that other people will not like, or may even find offensive or shocking. However, offensive language insulting to particular racial or ethnic groups would be an example of where a lawful restriction on expression might be imposed.
Political expression

3.86 The European Court of Human Rights has always stressed that the right to express political views and opinions is especially important. Even when political views are being expressed, there can be a responsibility to respect the rights of others.

What is freedom of assembly?

3.94 Your right of peaceful assembly includes your individual right to protest in a peaceful way, particularly against the state. You can exercise this right freely provided that, while exercising your rights, you do not commit any wrongful act and you act peacefully and without violence or threat of violence.

3.95 You also have the right not to take part in an assembly against your will.

Transsexuals

3.103 In the case of Goodwin the European Court of Human Rights has interpreted Article 12 as providing post-operative transsexuals with the right to marry and to found a family.

Freedom from Discrimination

3.107 Importantly, though, Article 14 protects you from discrimination on “any grounds” and the grounds of “any other status” too. This means that the categories are not closed. The “other status” ground could therefore be used to protect you from discrimination on the grounds of, for example

* sexual orientation
* whether you were born inside or outside a marriage
* disability
* marital status
* age.

Protocol 1, Article 3: Free elections

3.125 If you have the right to vote for members of the legislative body, the elections in which you take part must be free and fair.

Protocol 6: The death penalty

3.129 Protocol 6 abolishes the death penalty. It means that people should not be sentenced to death or executed, even in times of national emergency. There can be limited exceptions when the death penalty can be applied in times of war or when there is an “imminent” threat of war, but only in accordance with clearly specified laws.

3.130 When the Human Rights Act was being passed, Parliament voted to accept this provision. It means that even members of the armed services cannot be subject to the death sentence in peacetime.


Most of those are protected by UK law before the Act came in to force, but this protects them and means the government (in theory) can't just override them should it decide to. And given the fear and terror that is infecting the UK I would say that this protection is needed a lot more than normal.

So if the Act is scrapped because it potentially protects terrorists, it will also give the government unprecedented power to do whatever it wants to the people of this country. And while Blair might not be willing, he will not always be in power.

To finish - a quote from here

William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!
Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!

"A Man For All Seasons" (Robert Bolt)